29 April 2024
2 South Africans awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize
groundWork, Friends of the Earth SA congratulates Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu, 2024 recipients of the 35th Goldman Environmental Prize for the Africa Region. The seven awardees from the six global continental regions were announced on Monday 29th April.
The other global recipients of the 2024 awards went to Alok Shukla from India for the Asia region; Teresa Vicente of Spain for Europe; Murrawah Maroochy Johnson of Australia for Islands and Island Nations; Andrea Vidaurre of the United States for North America; and Marcel Gomes of Brazil for South and Central America.
In September 2022 Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu, indigenous activists from the Eastern Cape, stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off the Wild Coast. Organising their community, Nonhle and Sinegugu secured their victory by asserting the rights of the local community to protect their marine environment. By halting oil and gas exploration in a particularly biodiverse area, they protected migratory whales, dolphins, and other wildlife from the harmful effects of seismic testing. Most importantly, they secured the land, heritage and livelihoods of their local community.
They join the ranks of five previous South African grassroots environmental activists honoured with the Goldman award – Liziwe McDaid and Makoma Lekalakala (2018), Desmond D’Sa (2014), Jonathan Deal (2013), and Bobby Peek (1998). In the words of its founder, the annual Goldman awards seek to honour “People of ordinary backgrounds doing extraordinary things to save our Earth.”
Each year, the Goldman Prize solicits nominations from its alliance of nominating partners who have global reach and on-the-ground knowledge which enables them to identify a diverse cohort of grassroots environmental changemakers across the world.
“Nonhle and Sinegugu Zukulu have worked tirelessly in supporting the campaigns and struggles challenging the rampant greed of corporate Oil & Gas prospectors around our coastline,” said Bobby Peek, Executive Director of groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa.
“ Once our esteemed awardees have returned home, we will be sure to celebrate their win, which is a victory for environmental justice that benefits all our struggles and future generations,” said Desmond D’Sa, Executive Director of SDCEA.
